


Sweet Sunday Surprises

by DizzyDrea



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Competence Kink, Eventual Romance, F/M, Girls with Guns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26206945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: Even though he was in a good place, Steve hadn't really felt like dating. So many of the women he'd met had been… shallow, self-centered. Uninteresting. But not Maria. She was beautiful, smart, and competent. And who knew competence could be sexy?
Relationships: Maria Hill/Steve Rogers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41
Collections: Just Write! Trope Bingo





	Sweet Sunday Surprises

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what it is about gun ranges and girls with guns, but this is the second story I've written featuring both those things. It probably has something to do with my father, so... Thanks, Dad!
> 
> For the _Competence_ square on my Trope Bingo card on the Just Write Discord.
> 
> Disclaimer: Captain America and The Avengers and all their particulars are the property of Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios, and a lot of other people who aren't me. I am doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

Squeeze. Bang. Breathe. Repeat.

Target practice had always been one of Steve's favorite exercises. The rhythm of the process was soothing, in its way, though he was pretty sure most people would be surprised about that.

Of course, it helped that he tended to favor target practice on Sundays when the range was quiet. He wasn't trying to keep it a secret; anyone who'd read the Captain America comics after World War II knew he'd carried a .45 and wasn't afraid to use it. But the shield tended to get more attention, and he hadn't carried a gun since he'd woken up in the 21st century.

He was pretty sure Director Fury thought it made him look more… idealized. More like the hero people expected him to be. Steve had always been uncomfortable with the idea that people saw him as some sort of persona instead of the flawed human being he'd always been, but he wasn't sure how to undo that perception in a way people would understand.

The gun finally clicked when he pulled the trigger. Steve was somewhat chagrined to realize his mind had wandered so much he'd emptied the clip. When he glanced at the target at the end of his lane, his shots had formed a tight grouping in the center of the bullseye. So, even when he wasn't paying attention, he was apparently a crack shot.

He released the clip from the .45, picked up another one and slid it home. He pulled back on the slide to chamber a round. Flicking the safety on, he set the gun aside and pressed the button to bring his target closer so he could swap it out for a new one.

"That's some superior shooting."

Steve glanced over his shoulder to see Maria Hill setting up in the next lane. He pulled the earplugs out of his ears and took off the safety glasses Stark had insisted he wear on the range.

"Thanks," he said. "I probably don't need the practice, but I like keeping it up, even if I rarely handle a gun these days."

"I guess I thought you didn't carry a gun," Maria said. "When we found you, you didn't have one on you."

"I carried a .45 during the war," he said. "I lost it in the fight with Schmidt on the Valkyrie, so I'm not surprised you didn't find it."

She leaned a hip on the bench. "So, .45 is your preferred caliber?"

"Yeah," he said. He replaced the old target with a fresh one and ran it back to the proper distance. "I've fired pretty much all the guns Stark has in the armory, but I still like the .45. I have the arm and wrist strength to handle the recoil, and you can't beat the .45 for stopping power."

"True," she said. "And the .45 has been around for a long time. It's the caliber that won the West."

"The Colt Peacemaker," Steve said. "Nice gun. You shoot a 9 mil?"

"Yes," she said, clearly surprised. "How did you know?"

"I remember seeing you carry one," he said. 

"You noticed that?" she asked.

"Of course," he said. "Details are important. Especially details about the people you're fighting alongside."

"True enough," she said. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," he said. "Show me what you got."

Maria flashed him a grin as she set up her target and pressed the button to send it to the end of the lane. Steve picked up his earplugs and safety glasses, getting his protection squared away at the same time Maria did. He watched as she settled herself, raised her gun, and took a deep breath. 

Between her last breath and her next, she fired off seven shots. Steve leaned around the partition and checked the target when she pointed her weapon toward the ceiling.

"Not bad," he said as he pulled his earplugs out. "All seven in the center of the target."

Truth was, he was impressed. He hadn't seen much of her skill with firearms during the fall of SHIELD, but he felt sure that she'd have hit what she aimed at and then some.

"Yeah, but that first shot kinda got away from me," she said, pulling one earplug out so she could hear him.

When he looked at the target again, he could see the one shot that was slightly up and to the right of the rest. "Still center of mass, though. The bad guy would still be dead."

"And most law enforcement agencies still teach the double-tap method, so even if my first shot was slightly off, the second one would hit home," she said.

"Let's see the rest," he said. 

He leaned back and put his earplugs back in, then propped a shoulder on the partition wall. She restored her earplug, lowered her gun, sighted, and squeezed off the remaining rounds. A quick glance downrange showed that she'd placed all of them in the center of the target.

"Nice," he said, tugging out an earplug. "How often do you shoot? I don't think I've ever seen you at the range before."

"I try to get down here at least once a week," she said, doing the same. "Usually on Friday nights when the rest of the world is out drinking away their brain cells."

Steve chuckled. "If I could still get drunk, I'd probably be out with them. I never really did get much of a misspent youth. We were too busy fighting a war."

"You haven't missed much," she said. She popped the clip out of her gun and reloaded. "I got to do a lot of really stupid stuff in my twenties. Some of it I wouldn't even be able to remember if there wasn't photographic evidence, and most of the rest was just this side of legal, but still pretty dumb."

"Sounds like fun," he said, grinning.

"It was, most of the time," she said, sharing his smile.

He watched her as she replaced the target in her lane and set up for another round. They'd been through a lot together in the last few months, but he felt like he barely knew her. Seeing her like this, relaxed but still focused, was appealing. She was, frankly, beautiful, a fact he hadn't noticed until recently. 

He didn't say anything as she aimed and fired, emptying her gun in mere moments. Her aim was, once again, excellent. There was a flush to her cheeks that spoke of enjoyment of her task, and a sparkle in her eyes showing her pride. 

He was a little surprised by his own thoughts, though maybe he shouldn't have been. It had been three years since he'd woken up in a new century. He'd finally mourned all that he'd lost, and while things weren't perfect, they were better than they'd been in a long time. 

Still, even though he was in a good place, he hadn't really felt like dating. So many of the women he'd met had been… shallow, self-centered. Uninteresting.

But not Maria. She was beautiful, smart, and competent. And who knew competence could be sexy?

He watched her empty another clip into the target, her groupings getting tighter and tighter with each new clip. She ejected the final clip and set the two halves on the bench. 

He could see a marked difference in her from what he normally saw. Her shoulders were down and loose, and there was a smile lingering on her face. She looked relaxed, pleased. She looked like he did after he'd spent some time on the range.

"You look like you enjoyed that," he said, smiling.

She flashed a smile back at him. "Yeah, I did. I didn't always have time for this before. Not that I needed much practice; I've been shooting since I was barely legal, but keeping up the skills is important."

"Agreed," he said. "With my eidetic memory and advanced motor skills, I probably don't need to practice at all, but I find the rhythm of it relaxing."

"I bet no one knows that about you," she said. 

"Probably not," he said. "Like I said, I rarely carry a gun these days, much less have cause to use one. Fury seemed… opposed to that idea, for some reason."

Maria pursed her lips and shook her head. "He did have his reasons—not that I agreed with them—but in the end, it wasn't his call to make. I'm sorry you thought you couldn't make a different one."

"Eh," Steve said, lifting one shoulder in a vague shrug. "What's past is past. And Stark seems to be intent on buying every gun ever made so I can test them out, so I can't say I'm not getting time on the range."

"Not that he needs an excuse, but now that he's in the global security business, he's made it his mission to arm his teams with the best guns money can buy. I can't say I mind that at all," she said. "Plus, some of the stuff that comes out of his lab, like the personal armor and battle tech is pretty awesome. He's light years ahead of even SHIELD's R&D department."

"He's had me test some of it," he said. "Can't say I understand half of what he tells me about it, but I can understand practical applications, and that's enough for me."

"Have you gone through his shoot house yet?" she asked.

"No, I haven't," he said. "He told me about it, but I think I only got about every third word, actually. Sometimes it's like he's speaking a foreign language."

"I know what you mean," Maria said with a chuckle. "From what it sounds like, it's pretty great. He still hasn't let me near it, but I think that's because he's still tweaking it."

"Any idea when he's going to be finished?" he asked.

"No idea," she said. "But if I can talk him into letting me have a go at it, would you like to join me?"

"I'd like that," Steve said.

"Great," Maria said, smiling.

"You about done here?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "But it doesn't look like you are."

"I'm good, actually," he said. "I'd been here a while before you showed up. You want to grab some lunch with me?"

"I'd like that," she said, echoing his words from just a few moments ago. "How about we clean these guns and we can leave after?"

"Sounds good," he said.

Steve packed up his gun and targets and followed her out of the gun range and into the armory. Working together, they pulled out the supplies they'd need to clean both their guns. They moved around each other easily, as though they'd been doing it for years. 

He was surprised to find he was enjoying even this mundane task. The small talk made it go quickly, and before he knew it, they'd finished and were headed out to lunch. 

As they stepped onto the elevator, Steve smiled at her. "We should do this again sometime. I had fun."

"So did I," Maria said. "How about next weekend? Maybe I can convince Stark to let us have a go at the shoot house."

"I'd like that," Steve said, smiling at her.

He'd had no idea when he woke up this morning that he'd end up spending time with Maria. And maybe, if he played his cards right, he'd be able to spend more Sundays just like that. It was something to look forward to, anyway.

And if he could, Sundays just might become his favorite day of the week.

~Finis


End file.
